UAE Pakistan Assistance Programme administers 583 million doses of polio vaccine to over 102 million children in Pakistan

ABU DHABI: The UAE Pakistan Assistance Programme (UAE PAP) said that the UAE Polio Vaccination Campaign has administered 583,240,876 doses of vaccination against polio for more than 102 million Pakistani children

The figures cover the campaign from 2014 to September 2021, the UAE PAP said.

The campaign, in line with UAE President Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the UAE’s humanitarian approach and cooperation with international organisations, was launched through drafting social development programmes, curbing the spread of pandemics and diseases, providing humanitarian and health aid to underprivileged communities and people, and supporting global polio eradication initiatives.

Since 2011, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Shaikh Mohamed bin Zayed has donated $250 million to humanitarian and charity efforts aimed at providing vaccines and financing polio eradication campaigns, most notably in countries targeted by his initiative, which are Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Since the start of 2021, the campaign in Pakistan has succeeded in providing 75,148,404 doses of vaccination against polio. During the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the UAE Polio Vaccination Campaign managed to provide 127,664,157 doses of the vaccine from July 2020 until September 2021.

The campaign’s geographical coverage comprised 84 difficult to reach high-risk areas in Pakistan, and its scope included 34 areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, where local children received 298,581,946 doses of the vaccine.

In the 33 areas of Balochistan Province covered by the campaign, children received 86,898,201 doses of the vaccine, 173,557,631 doses in 14 areas of Sindh Province and 24,203,098 doses in three areas in Punjab Province, WAM news agency reported.

The programme noted that the field efforts to launch vaccination campaigns in various Pakistani provinces involved more than 103,000 doctors, observers and members of vaccination teams, as well as over 82,000 security personnel and coordination teams, who were focused on delivering vaccines to the targeted children.

The campaign also allocated special vaccination teams to provide vaccines to more than 597,000 Afghan refugee children in 22 refugee camps.

Director of UAE PAP Abdullah Khalifa Al Ghafli said that the polio eradication initiative of Shaikh Mohamed bin Zayed contributed to creating positive global humanitarian alliances and strategic partnerships between governments and UN agencies, including the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and global charity organisations, such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Thus, the initiative raised the level of success rate in reaching the targeted children and increased the achievement rate in the countries targeted by vaccination campaigns, he added.

Al Ghafli commended the efforts and sacrifices of vaccination teams comprising doctors, nurses and security personnel who faced dire field conditions and challenges, which contributed to achieving the programme’s success and outstanding achievement.

The UAE PAP Director said that the occasion of World Polio Day, observed on October 24, represents a humanitarian message that includes commitment and international cooperation to protect innocent children and prevent them from diseases, especially polio, and to support the efforts and sacrifices of all contributors and workers in the field to achieve this humanitarian goal.